I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to retaining nuts to mount a faucet valve assembly to a faucet housing and, in particular, to a retaining nut with an integral flange which in addition to securing the valve body to the faucet body secures the rotatable valving member within the valve body.
II. Description of the Prior Art
During installation of a faucet assembly various retaining nuts are utilized to secure the components of the faucet within the faucet housing. In conventional faucet assemblies, a first nut is utilized to secure the valve body, which receives the faucet valve cartridge, to the faucet shell while also securing the two halves of the faucet shell. This nut engages the outer threaded portion of the valve body and screws down to positionally capture the faucet body between the nut and a lower flange formed on the valve body. A second nut is thereafter utilized similar to a bonnet to secure the rotatable valving member within the valve body. This second nut includes an upper annular flange which engages the top of the valve member to secure it within the valve body while permitting the valve stem and stop member to extend through the top thereof for rotation.
Normally, both of these retaining nuts are made of metal to provide material strength and use conventional helical thread forms to provide standard engagement. However, in addition to substantially increasing manufacturing and assembly costs by utilizing two metal retaining nuts, the metal to metal engagement of the nuts does not provide any sealing capability to prevent leakage, damage, and/or an increase in spacial tolerances over prolonged use of the faucet. Moreover, with the improvement in plastic materials and their increased use in faucet assemblies, it is advantageous to manufacture as many of the components thereof of plastic materials.